America's Most Beautiful Covered Bridges

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Norman Eggert / Alamy

Spark some old-fashioned romance this fall with a visit to these charming covered bridges.

West Cornwall Covered Bridge, Cornwall, CT

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Leaf peepers flock to Housatonic Meadows State Park—Connecticut’s only stretch of the Appalachian Trail—for riverside camping and hiking amid 10,000 acres of foliage. As you drive past the park, keep an eye out for West Cornwall Covered Bridge, a red wooden landmark designed by Connecticut native Ithiel Town.

America's Most Beautiful Covered Bridges

West Cornwall Covered Bridge, Cornwall, CT

Leaf peepers flock to Housatonic Meadows State Park—Connecticut’s only stretch of the Appalachian Trail—for riverside camping and hiking amid 10,000 acres of foliage. As you drive past the park, keep an eye out for West Cornwall Covered Bridge, a red wooden landmark designed by Connecticut native Ithiel Town.

Norman Eggert / Alamy

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By
Katarina Kovacevic

A covered bridge played a supporting role in one of Hollywood’s most intense and fleeting love stories: The Bridges of Madison County, which still inspires visitors to seek out Iowa’s Roseman Covered Bridge: it ranks higher on TripAdvisor than John Wayne’s nearby birthplace.

Embodying a simpler time in American life, wooden covered bridges like Roseman began springing up across the country in the early 1800s. You’ll find them in state and national parks, amid the rolling hills of Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, and in popular leaf-peeping corners of New England.

The structures are often referred to as “kissing bridges,” since the enclosed domes provide lovers with just the right amount of privacy. Yet it was practicality that inspired their construction. Covered bridges made it possible to cross rivers, lakes, and valleys with horse-drawn carriages (often agitated by rushing water) and, before the advent of air-conditioning, they provided local residents a cool break from summer heat.

Only about 10 percent of covered bridges have stood the test of time, among them, Wawona Covered Bridge in Yosemite National Park and Maine’s Artist’s Bridge—one of the state’s most photographed and painted sites. It’s worth taking the scenic route to find them.